Railway-car coupling.



J. W. F. SOLE, A. F. FARLEY & J. F. MACKLE.

RAILWAY GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1907.

902,6 1 6. Patented Nov. 3, 1 908.

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Jofi n Joseph. MACk T/VESSLS [NI EN TOR Albert. Farley J. W. P. SOLE, A. P. FARLEY & J. P. MAUKLE.

RAILWAY CARCOUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1907.

902,616. Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Alb rt? FArIe Joae 'hFN /d INVENTORS 1 II'ITNESSE I BY WFW ATTOR EYJ J. W. F. SOLE, A. F. FARLEY & J. F. MACKLE.

V RAILWAY CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1907.

902,61 6, Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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JOHN WALKER FLAVELL' SOLE AND ALBERT FRED FARLEY, OF GUELPH, ONTARIO, AND JOSEPH FRANCIS MACKLE, OF WESTMOUNT, QUEBEC, CANADA.

RAILWAY-CAR COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JoHN WALKER FLA- VELL SOLE, mechanic, of the city of Guelph, in the Province of Ontario, Canada; ALBERT FRED FARLEY, stationary engineer, of the said city of Guelph, and JOSEPH FRANCIS MAGKLE, railway em loyee, of VVestmount, in the county of Hocheiaga, Province of Quebec, Oanada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Oar Couplers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to devise a coupler (1) of great strength and durability to meet the strains due to the constantly in-' creasing loads of the modern railway, (2) that will readily couple and uncouple on a curve, and will have more or less flexibility, which tends to reduce strain upon the parts, (8) that is perfectly automatic, always remains ready for coupling after uncoupling, and is convenient for operation by the train hands. We attain our objects by employing a solid draw head on the exterior of which the knuckle and guard are pivoted. The pin which looks the rear end of the wings of the knuckle engages the latter in such a way that although the knuckle is permitted to close readily when two draw heads contact yet it will be efiectuall held open against accidental closure. he pin m the act of uncoupling is automatically held u until the two couplings have completely isengaged, and any trouble due to irregular shunting, by which the draw heads are partly disengaged and again reengaged, is avoided. The guard having a limited outward swing may move to give a sufiiciently wide mouth to the couping to enable it to readily engage and disengage on a curve.

Fi ure 1 is a plan view of our improved coup er in the locked position. Fig. 2 is a sinnlar view with the coupler wide open. Fig. 3 is an elevation, looking in the direction of the line aa in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similar view looking in the direction of the line (1-0. in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail showing more pwticularly the locking pin and its retaining piece. Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the draw-head, knuckle and guard separated.

n the drawings like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the diiierent figures.

G is the draw head, which is substantially l solid in construction. On this draw head is hinged the knuckle Afwhich is rovided at 'top and bottom with the wings which are jplurnaled upon the draw head by means of t e cut out above and below-to receive these wings. To the opposite side of the draw head is hinged the guard O, which is formed as a knuckle provided with wings J, pivoted on the draw head by means of a pin D. The draw head is suitably cut out at top and bottom to receive these wings.

The outward swin of the guard is limited by the shoulders at Formed on the wings J, adapted to en age shoulders 1) formed on the draw head. ts inward swing is limited by the ends of the wings J coming in contact with the portions of the draw head forming the back of the rabbet cut out to receive the wings J. This construction of the guard is intended to facilitate the coupling of cars on a curve, as the guard may readily swing outwardly to a limited extent to provide greater flare to the mouth of the coupling, as shown in Fig. 2.

E is a locking pin, which is formed as a rectangular bar having notches or recesses 0 cut out to allow the rear ends of the wings of the knuckle A to swing outward and inward past the pin in the acts of coupling and uncoupling.

VVhen the draw head is in the coupled position the ends of the wings bear against the solid portions of the pin and the coupler is effectively locked.

A projecting lug d, with a wedge shaped back, is formed on the pin E. This lug by contacting with the top of the draw head beside the pin serves to limit the downward drop of the pin.

F is a retaining piece, which is provided with an opening through which the pin E loosely passes. A hinge pin 1 is provided for this retaining piece, which is secured to the lugs Formed at each side of the retaining piece. This hinge pin 7 is fitted into a notch formed in the side of the proj ection f adj acent to the pin E. The pin thus forms a closure for the notch, and effectively retains the hinge pin in position.

It will be noted that the under edge of the forward side of the retaining piece F is beveled upwardly and outwardly.

pin 13. T 1e draw head, it will be noted, is suitably each of the wings I is wedge shaped, the inclination bein inwardly and upwardly. (See Figs. 5 an 6.)

The upper side of each of the notches c is similarly shaped. Hence when the knuckle is open it cannot be closed unless the pin be lifted by the action of the wedges to allow the ends of the win 's to pass. j

As the pin will weigh approximately twelve pounds its weight will be suflicient to prevent such a m oyement of the knuckle taking place accidentally, and the coupler will remain in the uncoupled position until properly engaged by the coupleron another car.

The operation of our improved coupler is substantially as follows; to uncouple all that is necessary is to raise the pin E until the retaining piece falls beneath the projection cl on the side of the pin. The retaining piece will securely hold the pin in this position until the knuckle A opens sufliciently to bring the projection 'i beneath the forward side of the retaining piece F, thus lifting it and releasing the in, which drops until the upper edges of t e notches c engage the wedge shaped ends of the wings I. In this condition the coupler is in position to auto matically re-couple without further attention. To couple requires no attention on the part of the operator being perfectly automatic.

The incoming coupler engages the open knuckle A and closes it. The locking pin E immediately drops and looks back the wings I thus holding the knuckle closed. The end of the knuckle A of the incomin coupler engages the wings J of the guard 6 so that the llatter is retained in the position shown in When making up trains or shunting, if it is desired to shunt off down a siding, the operator standing at the side of the car lifts the pin I) by means of the mechanism usually employed for that purpose, and the in remains lifted ,until the car has been t irown oil' and the knuckle entirely swung out.

If, through unsteady pushing of the driver, or for any other reason, the knuckle is partly opened out and closed-again no effect is produced on the pin, which remains lifted and is not released until the knuckle has swung entirely 0 en. The osition of the knuckle A at whic the pin rops can be regulated by chan ing the position of the projection i so that if desired the pin may br allowed to drop before the knuckle is entirely open. The

' important point is to so place it in relation. to

the retaining piece F that no partial separation of the couplers shall lift the retaining piece" so that when the couplers come together again the pin re-drops to the locking position.

In shunting couplers are often subjected to great strain from jerking, twisting or jamming together. As our draw head is substantially solid, and as the wings of the knuckle and the guard, being on the outside, may be made as large and strong as is necessary our device may be made much stronger than when the hollow construction of the draw. head is employed.

What we claim as our inventionis:

1. In a car coupler the combination in a' solid draw head rovided with a guard, of a knuckle exterior y pivoted on the draw head and adapted to swing outward to an uncouled position and means for automatically ocking said knuckle exterior to the draw head at top and bottom when the knuckle has been swung into the coupled position.

2. In a car cou ler the combination of a solid draw head, a knuckle exteriorly ivoted on the draw head, and provided with wings extending inwardly of the ivot, theupper and lower surfaces of the raw head being raised back of the path in which the wings swing, and a locking pin vertically movable in a hole in the draw head and projecting partly from the faces of the raised portions of the draw head into the path of the wings.

3. In a car coupler the combination of a draw head; a knuckle pivoted thereon and provided with a win extending inwardly of the ivot; a vertically movable locking pin notclled for the passage of the wing; a retaining piece pivoted adjacent to the pin; and a projection on the pin ada ted to raise and pass the retaining piece an engage its upper surfacefthe inner end of the win-g of the knuckle being adapted as the knuckle swings open to engage and release the retaining piece.

4. In a car coupler the combination of a draw head; a knuckle pivoted thereon and provided with a win extending inwardly of the ivot; a vertical y movable locking pin note 16d for the passage of the wing; a retaining iece through which the locking pin loose y passes; a pivot in for the retaining piece at one side of the ockin pin below its upper surface and pivoted in t e draw head; and a projection on the locking pin ada ted to raise and pass the retaining piece an engage its u )per surface, the inner end of the wing of tie knuckle being adapted as the knuckle swings open to engage and release the retaining piece.

5. In a car coupler the combination of a draw head; a knuckle pivoted thereon and provided with a wing extending inwardly of the ivot; a vertically movable locking pin notc ed for the passage of the wing; a retaining piece through which the locking pin loose y passes; a pivot in for the retaining piece at one side of the ocking pin below its upper surface and pivoted in a notch formed in the draw head 0 ening into the cavity for the locking. pin w 'ch serves to retain the ivot pin 1n (place; anda projection on the ocking pin a apted to raise and pass the retaining piece and engage its up er surface, the inner end of the win of the uckle being adapted as the knuc e swings open to engage and release the retaining piece.

Signed at Guelph, Ont., 17th October, 15 1907.

JOHN WALKER FLAVELL SOLE. ALBERT FRED FARLEY.

In the presence of- GEORGE GULEY, J. W. RANDALL.

P. CLARK. 

